Gadgets! Gadgets! Gadgets! All About How Gadgets Can Make Life Better and More Enjoyable

Housing Heater

Housing Heater

What Is The Best Infrared Heater? Not All Infrared Heaters Are The Same!

So you are looking for a way to supplement your home with comfortable heat while assisting in cutting heating cost? Great! It is my opinion that nothing compares to supplemental heating as a quality Infrared heater.

Unfortunately, there is a great deal of confusion for the consumer as there are more and more Infrared heaters on the market, huge claims and various price ranges.

Here are some things that I believe are important to consider when choosing:

1.) Purchase By Celebrity or Research?

Before purchasing a heater based on your favorite celebrity, it is a good idea to look for some reviews or possibly complaints. Don't forget when a celebrity is paid they may become biased. If they were not being paid would they mention it?

2.) Infrared heat lamp, quartz bulb or PTC?

Without a doubt the Infrared heat lamp has been around for over 30 years and are by far the safest as well as most comfortable feeling. The only Infrared heater on the market  that you can get Infrared heat lamps is Solar Comfort.

Quartz bulbs are similar to the halogen bulb, there is very little difference. Infrared heaters using quartz tubes require generous air flow. If you do not keep up on the filter or have a power outage, it can be detrimental to the heater. I have a quartz Infrared heater and the insides are badly fried. I am surprised it did not cause a fire!

Regardless of claims, PTC is not Infrared even though they may be marketing them with Infrared heaters. These are typically the lower priced heaters on the Infrared portable style heaters. I have not found them to put out near the heating capability as an Infrared heater either. Some of these PTC heaters will have one quartz Infrared bulb in the unit so that they can claim Infrared. It is not the same! Infrared is generated through light and PTC has no light. It will dry the air as well.

3.) Mechanical or Digital with motherboard?

It is proven that a mechanical Infrared heaters will outlast all digital Infrared heaters. Motherboards will fail. Just ask yourself when the last time you had digital equipment fail such as a computer, dvd or cd player. Plus heat does not do well with motherboards.

Anohter disadvantage to digital Infrared heaters with motherboards is that most of them will not come back on after a power outage.

4.) What is the warranty?

Three years (3) is the industry standard. You may find some of the PTC or cheaper Infrared heaters with only a 1 year warranty. Some don't actually have any parts replacement programs either.

5.) Infrared Heater Price range?

Surely you can find many cheap Infrared heaters for as low as $150 dollars. However, you really should ask yourself if you can feel comfortable leaving a cheap heater left unattended in your home? Think of the risk! Many fires are caused by cheap heaters every year.

A good quality Infrared heater with any track record will cost near $400. Knowing the industry well, I would not recommend any current heaters that are less.

6.) What is the case made of?

There are a lot of Infrared heaters with plastic cases. Personally I am not a big fan of plastic heaters. I have actually seen them melted.

I prefer a metal housed heater. Some of the metal heaters will have wood cases. However, beware that many that claim they are wood, the front is actually still simulated wood.

Think of it this way. In the event of failure, it is similar to having a plastic surge protector or a metal surge protector. A metal surge protector will hold sparks inside whereas a plastic one will melt and the sparks will not be maintained.

7.) Is the company claiming realistic expectations?

In my opinion, this is the first give a way to honesty and integrity. Some state they will heat 1000 to 1500 watts for pennies a day or the price of a coffee maker. Do you really believe these claims? In my opinion, this is a good clue that the company is more focused on sales then the customer's needs.

It does not matter what heater you get, expect between 600 to 800 square feet as a supplemental heater, meaning you do have another heat source.

This is especially true in cold states.

8.) Can you work on the heater yourself, is it difficult to do so?

Although most state they are easy to work on, I have found it to be contrary. Most are not easy to work on and take the removal of up to 50 screws, cutting of wires and can be hard to insert the bulbs.

The Solar Comfort hands down was the easiest to work on with only 8 screws to get to the lamps. I found it to take about 5 to 10 minutes.

Although, there are many Infrared heaters to choose from, I believe Solar Comfort to be the safest, is the most proven and is the simplest.

You can find the Solar Comfort at http://www.solarcomfortheating.com .

 

 

About the Author

can I use a match to light my heater when the igniter is out?

Is it safe to light my house heater with a match while the igniter is out?

YES! That's how it was done before igniters came along.

Mercedes-Benz W140 1995 S500 Heater housing removed